Prime Minister Narendra Modi stepped in to save a 12-year-old with a Deadly Disease

The father of 12-year-old Parth – who has a rare and deadly brain disorder – had almost given up hope to treat his son. He had spent all his savings, sold off his property and his wife’s jewellery, DD News reported.

With no option left, Parth’s father thought, “Why not write to the PM?” And to his complete surprise, he got a reply. A positive one.

Parth is from Gujarat’s Amreli district and suffers from the rare Subacute Sclerosing Panencephalitis (SSPE), a deadly brain disorder related to measles (rubeola) infection. The disease is debilitating and progressive.

“He (Parth) was diagnosed with the disease (SSPE) some four months back. I consulted all the specialists in Amreli as well as in Ahmedabad but there was no improvement in his condition,” Parth’s father told DD News.

“I sold all my property, including my wife’s jewellery, to help my only son. As a final resort, I wrote a letter to PM Modi and to the health ministry seeking help in the treatment for Parth,” he said.

A few days later, the family received a letter from the Prime Minister’s office assuring free and full treatment for the boy in All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

“Parth is now undergoing treatment at AIIMS after PM assured us full support and financial assistance for my son’s treatment. So now, not only do we have financial aid, the PM has also given us moral support.”

While the financial aspect of the treatment has been taken care of, it is still an uphill battle for Parth, said specialists at AIIMS, to DD News. They said his condition is very critical.

“This is a degenerative brain disease. We are providing every possible treatment to the patient. Currently, all the required tests are being done,” said Dr Sheffali Gulati of the child neurology department at AIIMS.

Parth’s father though is pleased that everything possible is now being done, thanks to the PM.

This is not the first time that PM Modi has stepped in to provide succour in such cases. Earlier, a eleven-year-old boy from Unnao in Uttar Pradesh had written to the Prime Minister about the difficulty he faced in crossing railway tracks to reach his school. This prompted PM Modi to ask the Railways to intervene, following which the Northern Railways has written a letter to the boy.

Before that, an eight-year-old girl Taiyyaba from Agra wrote to Modi seeking financial aid to treat her congenital heart disease. Touched by the girl’s appeal, the Prime Minister’s Office immediately responded to the letter and arranged for her treatment at New Delhi’s GB Pant Hospital, where all the expenses incurred in her treatment will be borne by the government.